“A ghost could be staring at you right now as you read and you would never know!” – This thought always reverberates in my mind as I read paranormal stories and it has been the same while reading the book ‘Wreath and the Other Stories’ by Sangeeta Mahapatra.
Right from the book cover to the stories inside the book everything is eerie about ‘Wreath and Other Stories’. I so loved the book cover that it attracted me towards opting for this book !
One more trigger to pick this book should be a peek into the paranormal world through the blurb:
Book Blurb:
What is it that we fear? An evil presence around us, watching and waiting for a small slip, or the realization that the malevolence is within us and has already made its move?
Wreath and other stories will take you into a world that is slightly off its hinges – a bizarre, eerie realm. In short, a world much like our own, if only we would notice it.
A dangerous obsession of an artist, a broken childhood promise, a birthday gift gone horribly wrong, a soldier trapped in a nightmare, a warning from beyond the grave, a writer’s new lease of life in a “suicide central,” a patient’s struggle with insanity, a terrible crime in an idyllic artists’ town, a man’s record of his last moments, a bride haunted by her past…
With grey characters, a creeping sense of dread, and a twist at the end, it will ensure that you go to bed satisfied, having had your fill of a world of wickedness and terror… until that world engulfs you in your dreams. This book will enthrall lovers of horror and suspense.
The book starts with the story titled ‘Red Moon’. The colour red is symbolic of both birth and death and this is very well demonstrated in the story.It starts with incidents in an age of innocence and ends with acts of vengeance! This initial story sets tone for some exciting mysteries to be unfolded in the pages to come through the Wreath , Captive and likes of such in the nine other stories that follow.
The book ends with ‘Déjà vu’ and indeed the reader will go through a déjà vu feeling while reading the story.I particularly liked this story of twists and turns with an unpredictable climax and had goosebumps while reading the story like any other good paranormal stories does to me.
However, some of the stories become very predictable owing to the lacklustre narration. Also, if one has watched Bicentennial Man or iRobot, the storyline of ‘Malevolent’ in bits is eerily similar.Having recently read another book titled ‘Encounters’ dealing with Paranormal stories, I was a tad disappointed with ‘Wreath and Other Stories’.
Still, credit should be accorded to the writer who excels in her descriptions of the locales, situations of the mind and the monologues which are so well written that a reader is intrigued and transported to the place and situation and one’s imagination is rekindled especially through stories like ‘Déjà vu’ and ‘RedMoon’.
Overall,this book does pull a reader into the dark world of horror and suspense with its intriguing stories.
I give it a rating of 3.5 / 5 !
Do grab a copy by clicking on the Amazon link below to infuse some suspense into the otherwise monotonous and mechanical working life that is devoid of any action barring one horror called ‘ Boss’ 😉
“I received a free copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.”
Title : Wreath and Other Stories
Author: Sangeeta Mahapatra
Publisher: Notion Press
ISBN: 978-81-7511-087-8
No of Pages: 215
Genre: Fiction
Language: English
☕️ 
Thanks for the review, Meenakshi. Really appreciate it. 🙂
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